Color signal processing
First Claim
1. A method of processing an N-component color signal from a color signal source so as to eliminate dependency on color temperature and/or intensity variation by using a mathematical algorithm derived from the source sensitivities to different wavelengths of light in a signal processing computer supplied with the color signal, to provide new values for the components making-up the color signal which are independent of the color temperature of the light illuminating, or deemed to illuminate, the subject described by the color signal, wherein the N components, such as RGB signals of a 3 component color signal, define an image of an illuminated colored subject, the processing serving to produce modified signal components defining an image of the same subject as if illuminated under light of different color temperature, comprising the steps of:
- (1) generating the N-(RGB etc.) components of a color signal corresponding to an illumination of the subject using illumination of color temperature T1;
(2) forming the N log values (R′
G′
B′
etc.) of the N-RGB etc. components of the color signal so obtained; and
(3) computing the N log values (R*, G*, B* etc.) of the N-RGB etc. components of the color signal for a different illumination color temperature T2 using the equation;
(R*G*B* . . . )=(R′
G′
B′
. . . )+X(u,v,w, . . . ) where X is proportional to (T1–
T2) and u, v, w, etc. are constants that depend only on the spectral sensitivities of the signal source and Planck'"'"'s equation defining black body illumination.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of adjusting the N components of an N component color signal (such as the 3 components of an RGB color signal) with respect to color temperature of illuminating light when imaging a colored subject, comprising the step of computing the difference between each of the components of the color signal for different temperatures of illuminating light, using an algorithm based on the spectral sensitivity of the imaging means and Planck'"'"'s equation defining black body illumination to obtain N components whose values are independent of the color temperature of the illuminating light. Normalisation of the adjusted values renders the values independent of intensity of illumination and can also reduce the processing time for further processing of the signals. A technique for compensating for gamma correction which is commonly built in cameras, is disclosed.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of processing an N-component color signal from a color signal source so as to eliminate dependency on color temperature and/or intensity variation by using a mathematical algorithm derived from the source sensitivities to different wavelengths of light in a signal processing computer supplied with the color signal, to provide new values for the components making-up the color signal which are independent of the color temperature of the light illuminating, or deemed to illuminate, the subject described by the color signal, wherein the N components, such as RGB signals of a 3 component color signal, define an image of an illuminated colored subject, the processing serving to produce modified signal components defining an image of the same subject as if illuminated under light of different color temperature, comprising the steps of:
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(1) generating the N-(RGB etc.) components of a color signal corresponding to an illumination of the subject using illumination of color temperature T1; (2) forming the N log values (R′
G′
B′
etc.) of the N-RGB etc. components of the color signal so obtained; and(3) computing the N log values (R*, G*, B* etc.) of the N-RGB etc. components of the color signal for a different illumination color temperature T2 using the equation;
(R*G*B* . . . )=(R′
G′
B′
. . . )+X(u,v,w, . . . )where X is proportional to (T1–
T2) and u, v, w, etc. are constants that depend only on the spectral sensitivities of the signal source and Planck'"'"'s equation defining black body illumination.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of processing an N-component color signal (N>
- 1) from a color signal source so as to eliminate dependency on color temperature and/or intensity variation by using a mathematical algorithm derived from the source sensitivities to different wavelengths of light in a signal processing computer supplied with the color signal, to provide new values for the components making up the color signal which are independent of the color temperature of the light illuminating, or deemed to illuminate, the subject described by the color signal, the method comprising the step of adjusting the N components of the signal so as to produce component values which when using an imaging means to image a colored subject are independent of the color temperature of the light illuminating the subject wherein the adjustment is effected by the step of computing for each of (N−
1) components a new value using the original component value, the Nth component value, and an algorithm incorporating a mathematical operator whose value is related to the spectral sensitivity of the imaging means to different color temperature illuminants. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
- 1) from a color signal source so as to eliminate dependency on color temperature and/or intensity variation by using a mathematical algorithm derived from the source sensitivities to different wavelengths of light in a signal processing computer supplied with the color signal, to provide new values for the components making up the color signal which are independent of the color temperature of the light illuminating, or deemed to illuminate, the subject described by the color signal, the method comprising the step of adjusting the N components of the signal so as to produce component values which when using an imaging means to image a colored subject are independent of the color temperature of the light illuminating the subject wherein the adjustment is effected by the step of computing for each of (N−
- 21. A method of image enhancement when processing a color signal in a system in which the log of the color response is composed of three parts, a vector due to the intensity of the illumination, a vector due to the illumination color temperature, and a vector due to reflective properties of the surface illuminated for the purpose of producing the image, comprising the step of adjusting the magnitude of the intensity vector, or the magnitude of the illumination color temperature vector for each pixel so as to change the effective illumination for each pixel in a display of the image using the processed signal.
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26. A method of image enhancement applied to N-component color signal, such as the RGB signals of a 3 component color signal, defining an image of an illuminated colored subject, wherein the components are processed to produce modified signal components defining an image of the same subject as if illuminated by a different color temperature (T), comprising the steps of:
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(1) generating the N-(RGB etc.) components of a color signal corresponding to an illumination of the subject using illumination of color temperature T; (2) normalising the N components of the color signal with respect to one of the components (e.g. G) to provide (N−
1) co-ordinates, such as R/G, B/G in a 3 component RGB signal, so that each of the resulting components is independent of illumination intensity,(3) computing the log values of these (N−
1) co-ordinates, such that log(R/G)=R′ and
log (B/G)=B′
, in the case of an RGB signal, and(4) adjusting the values of R′
, B′
, etc., to produce new values R*, B*, etc., corresponding to the values which would apply if the color temperature of the illumination is T2 using the equation (R*, B*, etc.)=(R′
, B′
, etc.)+X(a, b, etc.) where X is proportional to (T1–
T2) and a and b etc. are constants that depend only on the spectral sensitivities of the source and Planack'"'"'s equation defining black-body illumination. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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Specification